As at least 2 people who read this little blog regularly know, I'm a big Woody Allen fan. I've seen "Annie Hall" probably a few more times than is actually healthy, which means that I remember one of the final scenes pretty well. In it, Alvy is talking about running into Annie, months after their break-up, taking her new guy to see "The Sorrow and the Pity". Well, guess what film I stumbled across in my local library. Yep - "The Sorrow and the Pity". If you think I wasn't going to check it out, you're crazy. First, if you're ever in need of a relationship-tester, this is it. It's a great movie (so far), but it's 5+ hours long! Can you imagine sitting through that in a theater?!? In addition, contained within its 5+ hours is a lot of the worst that humanity has to offer - cowardice, greed, cruelty, self-delusion - you name it. It's not a pretty picture. On the up side, there are a lot of examples of human bravery, loyalty, and courage, so the news isn't all bad. Still, if you've somehow managed to get this far in life with an optimistic view of the essential goodness of your fellow human beings, well, if you want to preserve that little fantasy, don't watch the movie. For everyone else, watch the movie. It's very, very good.